The Delhi Public Library (DPL) is hosting a six-day exhibition to showcase its role as a nodal institution that provides the public with information and insights into India's polity, society and culture. This event—a unique potpourri of engaging displays, archival and musical exhibits, and reading-promotion activities, addressing academics and the lay public—will be held from 24.2.2010 to 28.2.2010 at the Indira Gandhi National Center for Arts (IGNCA) Mansingh road New Delhi. Spanning the 60 years of DPL's existence from 1951 to the present, it utilizes rare archival material, audiovisuals, photographs and books. The highlights of the exhibition are as follows:

ARCHIVAL SEGMENT

The Newseum—The first of its kind in India, this is a unique display showcasing DPL's newspaper archives, presenting a visual history of Hindi and English newspaper advertisements from 1952 to 2002, as also an assortment of lesser-known but memorable photographs, cartoons and articles from the 1950s and 60s that depict current matters of interest.

Delhi through the lens—Exceptional photographs of Delhi, that juxtapose the past and the present while delineating the city's ever-changing urban landscape, will be on view.

19 milestones of India's journey—These important policy decisions/ events encapsulate crucial moments in Indian history from 1951 to the present, featured along with pertinent material obtained from the National Archives, as also original news reports from DPL's comprehensive newspaper collection.

MUSIC/ AUDIO SEGMENT

A selection of forty rare gramophone records, spanning the classical, film, religious and popular genres of Indian music, and sourced from DPL's collection of over 4000, will be digitised as audio CDs and played on an on-demand basis in four kiosks at the exhibition venue. The CDs will also contain significant speeches by certain Indian prime ministers.

READING PROMOTION SEGMENT

Display of books—DPL's wide-ranging collection of books in English, Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu—including 200 books on Delhi and award-winning fiction and non-fiction titles—will be exhibited.

Storytelling competition—The finals of DPL's 'Tell a Story' competition, conducted among English and Hindi medium Delhi schools, will be held at the venue to demonstrate the importance of storytelling in promoting the reading habit.

Seminar on reading trends—A seminar featuring the participation of librarians, readers, publishers and other stakeholders in the field of literature will be organized by the Raja Rammohan Roy Foundation on DPL's behalf to discuss emerging reading trends and the efforts required to revive the reading habit among adults and children.

Authors' meet—Prominent writers in English and Hindi will address the public and interact with them to raise awareness about their books and the importance of reading in general.

OTHER ATTRACTIONS

Doordarshan's memorable run—A CNN-IBN film, entitled '50 Years of Doordarshan', that showcases this channels' history from its inception to the present, through nostalgic and evocative excerpts from its notable shows, will be shown throughout the exhibition at stipulated time slots.

Bonsai activity—The relevance of bonsai plant manipulation is rising with the shrinking of contemporary urban green space. Renu Vaish, founder member of the Indian Bonsai Association and award-winning bonsai practitioner, will demonstrate the intricacies of this art.